


Passing the Test

by Amisbro



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, Idols, Self-Doubt, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 14:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10220300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amisbro/pseuds/Amisbro
Summary: HEAVENS is starting to become a force in the idol game BUT Raging wants them to start to work individually as well.  He tasks Joshua and Haruka with helping to get the individual members better known and where better to start that with one of the newer members in the group than Eiji Ootori!Problem:  While Eiji is confident with the group as support what happens when he is tasked to go on a popular morning talk show for its first worldwide simulcast?  A very interesting journey that you have to read to believe!





	

The day had finally come…

Today was to be the first day that Eiji Ootori, the younger brother of HEAVENS Leader Eiichi Ootori, was going to step out on his own for the first time and perform his solo single for not just the country but the world as the show was being broadcast for the first time ever worldwide and even more importantly was the fact that today he was going to have the composer of the song that he was performing there as well as his former duet partner in attendance. It was something that, if you asked him some time ago, he would be as nervous as he was right now then he probably would fudge a little and say “Nah” but those that really knew him knew EXACTLY how this was going to be if he didn’t have the proper support in attendance and they made sure that there was the proper people in the building that day because they wanted EVERYTHING to go right for him that was for sure

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves aren’t we? We need to know HOW we got here and more importantly WHY all these people converged on the station today right?

Well I don’t mind telling you

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[ **FLASHBACK** ]

_2 Weeks earlier_

The boys of HEAVENS had just come off of a huge promotional push for a concert that was to come up on the weekend of May 27th and they were EXHAUSTED from the media blitz that they did! Raging usually doesn’t send the boys out to THAT MANY places but it was at the advice of one young lady that they go out to start to get more noticed by the public and do personal appearances and the like. This was agreed upon by her friend and HEAVENS associate (That is what he calls himself) in Joshua as the two noticed that they were starting to make headway BUT they needed to really start getting the gears moving for the machine if they ever wanted to be as popular as the Triple S champions in STARISH. Joshua knew what they went through from talking with some of the members before he departed a few months back and he watched how hard they worked. He knew that HEAVENS had it in them to actually be just as popular as them but they were going to need to work at it on a group AND Individual basis and that meant that they would have to step out on their own a lot more than they had been. What concerned him was that they didn’t have the confidence to do it (and to be frank…some actually were legit nervous about doing that)!

Upon getting home Joshua excused himself as he and Nanami went to his office to start mapping out which members needed the most help and those would be the ones that they started with when it came down to working on things with the individual members.

The first name that came up: Eiji Ootori!

Oh don’t misunderstand: Joshua had heard the song that he did with Tokiya and he heard the single with HEAVENS which he participated in and he enjoyed that too! What worried him was how he would actually do if he was going to perform live solo because…have a group to back you is one thing and having a partner can also keep you from falling on your butt too but solo is where some of the best are born or they become exposed quickly as just people that need others for a crutch!

Eiji wouldn’t want that!

The tricky part for them was they weren’t going to have a lot of time! Joshua had found an opening at a morning show on a TV station that was looking to get a worldwide audience. The thing is that it was only two weeks away which sounds great in theory BUT…if there was one thing Joshua knew it was that Eiji can be like him and that is a “perfectionist” so those two weeks can go by rather quickly! It was also the idea of it being a show broadcast worldwide and not JUST in Japan which could be scary for anyone and Eiji, while he started to gain confidence recently, still had to face the fact that this was a solo endeavor and now he was going to be asked to do this show alone!

WHAT is a person to do?

WELL…they didn’t have to wait long to find out!

_2 Days Later (12 days till the broadcast)_

Who would have thought that they would be here again?!

Okay to be fair Nanami works with STARISH so it was a given BUT it was the idea that Joshua was standing in front of Ichinose Tokiya! They have had their ups and downs as both members of the same agency AND with Joshua leaving to go work for Raging but this was at Tokiya’s suggestion and Eiji’s insistence…Josh wasn’t going to deny his friend especially for his opportunity coming up in 12 days!

What was going to be interesting about the visits to the SA was that they weren’t going to be working on anything performancewise because both Tokiya and Joshua knew how gifted the kid was BUT they WERE going to try and get him to come out of his shell by the eve of the telecast! YES Eiji has exuded confidence before when he did “Mighty Aura” with his friend but that was a different situation and now Eiji was trying to show that he can work solo and be just as confident on stage on his own. This was going to be an interesting problem because he was almost NEVER SEEN away from a group or at the least his BROTHER!

_This was something that Tokiya took note to right away_

“It’s tricky isn’t it?”

This was the question that Tokiya asked Eiji and the idol nodded before speaking

“I guess the hard part to think about is that…when I work with HEAVENS and my brother I know that I kind of have a net. If I work within the group or if I know HEAVENS is going to be there then it’s a bit easier to be myself because if there is one thing I learned from the group is that their confidence sometimes comes from the fact that they know they have others watching their back. If you go solo and mess up it’s a whole different world.” Eiji responded and Tokiya just nodded and then looked over at the gentleman seated next to him before replying

“This almost sounds a bit like Joshua doesn’t it? He ALMOST dreaded doing group work and rather would have worked alone if he could. It was hard to get him to do stuff at first because he was a loner but now he loves working with QUARTET NIGHT and of course…HEAVENS right?” He asked as he looked over at Joshua whom was quick to respond

“As backhanded as that might have been Tokiya…you’re right! Eiji the trick is to be able to recognize the surroundings that you are going to be in and be able to adapt quickly to where you are and that sometimes makes things a lot easier! I know that the first time I actually did either my Christmas show or the first time I did a show with QUARTET NIGHT it was tricky because you have to get used to a lot and sometimes your brain has to learn to adapt to a different timing and this goes for vocally too! When you do a song with someone they can SOMETIMES cover up your mistakes but here is a situation where you can be put under a magnifying glass! I know its scary but that is why we are here and we have 11 days to make sure things are right for your big day…are you ready to make these the best days possible to pass your test…or will it be a struggle for us all friend?” Joshua asked but Eiji knew why he worded it that way! He knew that he could take it because of how his brother would lecture him if he screwed something up and he needed to show Joshua, Tokiya and Nanami that he was capable of doing this! Time however…would become their enemy and not their ally!

_3 days later (9 days until the broadcast)_

The days that followed their prior discussion were long and hard! Sometimes Eiji would nail everything right with his speaking to the audience that Joshua would get to come into the room and sometimes he would stumble. The good news for him was that the audience in this case was an understanding one because it was the rest of STARISH and Joshua explained why he needed their help. Ren made sure they were all there because he wanted to help out his “Brother” with his situation and he wanted to try and help Eiji become more polished with his stage presence as well. He had heard from Toki that Joshua was trying to help build his confidence up for this big show that he had and Ren was a VERY WILLING helper because he wanted to see Eiji succeed as did all of STARISH! It was to a point that they didn’t see HEAVENS as rivals anymore (even if Joshua still wanted to beat them somewhat) but rather they saw them as partners and they wanted to help them any way that they could. They also knew that the day might come that HEAVENS WOULD pass them and they actually were ready for that to happen BUT they had to get to that point and suffice to say it wasn’t going to be easy and even Raging was making it difficult for them at times!

The thing that Ren wanted to help Eiji focus on was his stage presence but not necessarily “Bravado” as much as a way to command an audience with your voice. Yes this was something that Camus could have ALSO HELPED WITH but you see the QUARTET NIGHT was away for this period so he got Ren…don’t think that Camus doesn’t have his own interest in the young man from HEAVENS though!

ANYWAYS…

“Jinguji-San” Eiji began “How did you learn to be this…” Ootori stumbled over trying to pick out the word so Masato tried his best to pick it for him

“Exaggerating, Melodramatic, Womanizing…”

“MASA…WE’RE TRYING TO HELP A BROTHER OUT HERE?!” Joshua exclaimed as apparently one of his STARISH “Brothers” was picking out the WORST of his traits to try and fill in the blank

“Sorry Joshua…is ‘Bold’ Acceptable?” Hijirikawa asked and Joshua nodded and Ren then answered the question

“Good question friend. To be honest even I don’t know how it happened! I can’t say it’s a bad thing ALL THE TIME…but it does have its drawbacks because you can grate on people the wrong way if you present yourself in a manner people don’t like…does that make sense?” Ren asked and Eiji smiled and nodded. Ren wasn’t telling him to come up with an “Alter Ego” but he WAS telling him you have to see if you can naturally be able to command an audience which is trickier considering…he never did that before!

Little did Eiji know that one of his greatest tests was yet to come…

_5 days later (4 until the concert)_

Well this was interesting!

Joshua had gone to get Eiji from his room at the HEAVENS home but when he entered apparently he wasn’t there! He called STARISH to see if he was there already and even went and called QUARTET NIGHT to see if SOMEHOW he found the address to their place and went there…no dice!

Well POOP!

At that moment…a lightbulb went off in his head but it was more for if he could FIND Eiji but the question is…would she do it?

Joshua got on the phone and called Nanami and explained the situation and when she heard she immediately made her way to HEAVENS’ place and Joshua explained what happened. This concerned Nanami greatly because as it turned out Eiji was not only progressing nicely with his training but he was getting to the point where he started to incorporate other stuff in it too! What was a mystery but Nanami wasn’t allowed to tell Joshua about it until after the show…problem with that was they were going to now have to FIND Eiji if there was going to BE a show!

The duo searched the area for what seemed like an eternity and there was no such luck! This was a problem because they didn’t have much time for practice and Eiji disappearing today was going to cut into their time! Their only hope would be that he showed up within at least 2 days so they could get one more practice in but that was going to be tricky because no one knew where he was!

Well…almost no one!

*Bzzt Bzzt*

Joshua’s phone went off and on the other end was Camus! He apparently had found Eiji and brought him back to their place for the night. He wasn’t allowed to disclose WHERE he was but he promised that he would be back for practice with them in 2 days but he wanted some time with the young man himself!

_The next day (3 days until the concert)_

“If you’re going to spin you need to tighten it up!”

THIS was from the booming voice that Joshua knew all too well…Camus was sitting in the QN’s studio with Eiji watching him do some of his choreography for the song but apparently Eiji asked some other stuff from him too! According to Camus…what Eiji learned was “beginner stuff” and now he had about 24 hours to make sure that things were perfect for this young man OTHERWISE the performance could go wrong

“Sorry sir…I think I know what I need to do now” Eiji replied but the way he did it wasn’t as assertive as Camus would like and he thought back to how he had to teach Joshua in almost as quick a manner

“First I appreciate the ‘sir’ but if you are going to address people you need to be more firm and direct with your audience. Yes its well known I developed my own “persona” some would call it over time, but that was out of necessity because if I didn’t then I wouldn’t survive in this world as an idol. Its why I’m as feared and respected as I am!” Camus boomed and Eiji bolted straight up with the realization of what Camus was saying and he quickly processed it so that he can get on with the rest of his time! He had a young lady that he wanted to talk to too!

_2 days later_

It was the eve of the concert and Eiji had since returned to HEAVENS and he, Tokiya and Haruka put on some of the polishing touches of the performance and part of it….Joshua and Tokiya weren’t allowed to see!

Why?

According to Eiji this was something he wanted to do for a good long time and it would potentially start a very big part of his life NOT JUST as an idol…but as someone that has started to realize something he was missing. While this puzzled Tokiya and Joshua somewhat the fact was that they backed off and went about their business and Eiji started his transformation THAT NIGHT! A transformation that wouldn’t be seen until the performance the next day!

[ **END FLASHBACK** ]

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So that is how we got here! Eiji went through a lot of interesting sessions with STARISH, Camus and others on his way to get to this moment and now Eiji was about to go and, as he put it during the two weeks, “Step out onto a high wire with no net” and perform “Dreamer” without HEAVENS backing him but if he had ANY support around it was his Senior in Tokiya, his manager in Joshua and the composer of the song he is performing in Nanami. What was going to be interesting was the reaction to what his friends were about to see…especially the one idol sitting in the audience that was a mentor of his!

“Ladies and Gentlemen tonight is a very interesting night for us because it’s the first time our show is being broadcast worldwide and tonight we are having a solo performance from a member of the Idol Unit in HEAVENS so this should be fun. Here to perform ‘Dreamer’ is Ootori Eiji!” The host announced and Eiji walked out at first a little nervous but almost on a dime when he looked out into the audience something switched and the timid young man that Joshua saw two weeks earlier was disappearing before his eyes!

Oh don’t misunderstand…the song was meant to be a very carefree and relaxing song…and it was…but Eiji felt that he needed to keep the audience’s attention too as he went through the performance because the ending was going to catch EVERYONE off guard!

What did it entail? Let me tell you!

While Eiji was “missing” he was staying with some friends that lived near a dance studio. Now you would think that dancing comes natural to him and it DOES but you see…he had something special planned for this performance because, as he would later tell Joshua after the show, Haruka had become something more than JUST a composer to him but also a dear friend and he was worried that his feelings were going to cause him to crawl back into his shell. The reason he disappeared was in the HOPES that he could start to figure everything out in time for the show and then Camus of QN found him.

One of the things Camus talked to him about was his PERSONAL feelings for Nanami and while he tried to avoid having feelings for anyone on a Pro level himself he told him about when he started developing feelings for Joshua and how that changed a lot in his life. He HOPED that for him IF he could slowly start to build to that level with Haruka that they would be happy together and that it would help his performances because one thing he started to learn is that, while Eiji can have an intense streak in him, he never wanted him to lose the gentle part of him either. Developing intensity is one thing but keeping true to what you were is another!

Eiji kept this in mind and as he sang the audience was captivated and clapped along because of how into the performance they were but they also noticed when he walked over towards the second bridge and gently lead Haruka onto the stage and near the end of the song they started DANCING! Haruka didn’t miss a beat and remembered the steps she was taught by Eiji during their practices and didn’t miss a step! It also explained why, for the performance she was asked to wear dress pants. Turns out that the end of the song was to involve Eiji dipping Haruka for the finale and he didn’t want to have the something ELSE happen (plus Shion was there and he was conscious of him and his purity) so she accommodated and dressed comfortably and they STILL had a heck of a dance!

By the end of the song the crowd stood as one and gave a standing ovation and even Tokiya couldn’t help but notice one thing: Haruka had the most pleasant smile in Eiji’s arms during the dance sequence and if there was one thing he wanted to verbalize to him right then it was this

“You passed your test Eiji…you passed with flying colours!"


End file.
